Students could graduate regardless of test scores under plan backed by state school board

Cleveland Heights High School students get ready to graduate a few years ago. The state school board today is looking to ease new graduation requirements that kick in for the class of 2018.
(Chanda Neely/Cleveland.com )

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The state school board has lined up behind a proposal to avoid a graduation crisis for the class of 2018 by allowing students to earn diplomas regardless of their scores on state tests.

The plan backed by board members, with some limits, would create a one-year emergency exemption from the state's new requirements that students score well on new state high school tests, in addition to passing the required classes, in order to earn a diploma.

It would let this year's high school juniors, the first class affected by the new requirements, graduate by instead reaching some career training goals or by doing things like having strong attendance or classroom grades their senior year.

Doing a senior capstone project or working at a job or on community service can also help a student earn a diploma.

The new graduation "pathways" that avoid scores on state tests were suggested by a special panel of educators from across the state that have studied the graduation issues for the last few months.

State school board member Pat Bruns Patrick O'Donnell/The Plain Dealer

"This is a one-year opportunity to address a problem, a very real problem that our superintendents across the state have voiced grave concerns about," said board member Pat Bruns, of Cincinnati.

Other board members said they were anxious to approve quickly a way to ease the concerns by school officials across the state that as many as a third of the junior class would not be able to meet the new expectations. A few hundred superintendents and other officials had rallied in protest of them outside the statehouse late last year before bringing their complaints to the board.

The proposals had opposition from new board member Kara Morgan, who said she wants to know how many students will be affected by the changes before voting.

State Superintendent Paolo Demaria told her and the board that most data that might affect a decision, like this year's test scores, won't be available until fall. By then, the next school year will have already started.

The board also heard objections from Chad Aldis of the Fordham Institute, who said that eliminating test score expectations would be a mistake. Students and school, he said, are pushing themselves to meet the targets and will stop if they are not enforced.

He predicted that graduation rates will rise with the changes.

Chad Aldis, Fordham InstitutePatrick O'Donnell/The Plain Dealer

"It will be a paper victory," Aldis said. "Our students won't be able to read better, they won't have better math skills and they won't be better prepared to be citizens."

Despite broad support from board members, the changes are not guaranteed.

A school board committee approved them this morning, but the full board backed off slightly this afternoon, by reserving the right to adjust them.

The biggest hurdle is that the changes require approval of the state legislature. State law requires test scores to be a major part of determining if students can graduate, so the emergency alternative will need a law change.

The final board vote today asks the legislature to give the board the ability to create new paths to graduation, with the panel's recommendations in mind.

"The State Board of Education requests the legislature to take into consideration the specific recommendations of the Graduation Requirements Workgroup and to provide the State Board of Education flexibility to develop alternative pathways to graduation for the class of 2018," the resolution states.

A proposal from some board members to also include the class of 2019 in the resolution was voted down.

State Sen.Peggy Lehner and State Rep. Andrew Brenner, chairs of the Ohio Senate and House education committees, told the board that the legislature will seek a resolution to the graduation concerns, but is not obligated to follow the board.

Brenner also told the board that if they included 2019, its request would definitely be denied.

For the last several years, students in Ohio would have to pass the Ohio Graduation Tests in order to graduate. Starting with the class of 2018, the state requires students to earn "points" toward graduation based on their scores on seven state "end-of-course" exams.

But students have scored poorly on those new Common Core-based exams, which raised expectations, and many students are not earning enough "points" to meet the new requirements.

The new proposals keeps the "points" pathway to graduate as well as the new career training pathways the law calls for.

But they add new ways to avoid the "points" altogether. A new pathway allows them to graduate if they meet two of these eight goals:

- Attendance rate during senior year - 93%;

- 2.5 GPA for senior year courses (minimum 4 full year courses or equivalent)

- Complete a capstone senior project as defined by the district;

- Complete 120 hours work experience (including, but not limited to internship, work study, co-op, and/or apprenticeship) or community service during the senior year as defined by the district;

- Earn 3 or more credits in a College Credit Plus course at any time during the student's high school experience;

- Successfully complete an International Baccalaureate, or Advanced Placement course and earn a score on the respective exam that would earn college credit (4 on IB exam, 3 on AP exam) -at any time during the student's high school experience;

- Earn a minimum Level 3 score on each of the reading for information, applied mathematics, and locating information components of the WorkKeys exam (9 points total);

- Earn a State Board of Education approved, industry recognized credential or group of credentials equal to or greater than 3 points.